The present invention relates to a weather cap for protecting the open, upstanding ends of exhaust pipes for gasoline and diesel engines and the like. Such caps normally operate so that they are open to permit escape of exhaust gases from the pipe during operation of the motor, but closed to cover the opening of the exhaust pipe when the engine is not operating. In this way, when the engine is not operating, they prevent the entry into the exhaust pipe of rain, snow, ice, dirt, dust and other types of foreign matter.
In conventional devices of the this type, a counterweighted flap device is pivotally secured to a frame member which is clamped to the exhaust pipe by means of a ring or a split-ring which frictionally grips the exterior cylindrical wall of the pipe. Not only are such devices unsightly, hey do not take well the alternate expansion and contraction of the exhaust pipe during consecutive periods of operation and non-operation of the engine. This may cause the clamp to become loosened and the cap to become dislodged. Alternatively, such weather caps may be difficult to remove for servicing or replacement, since often the bolt or other securing means which acts to open the ring or split-ring may have become inoperative through rust or the like. Caps of this general type are described and illustrated, for example, in Khosropour Canadian Pat. No. 1,141,673 issued Feb. 22, 1983, McElhose, et al Canadian Pat. No. 987,187 issued Apr. 13, 1976 and Westerman Canadian Pat. No. 888,514 issued Dec. 21, 1971.
In Harmon U.S. Pat. No. 2,749,832 issued June 12, 1956, an alternative type of clamp for such a weather cap is described and illustrated in which the cap is pivotally secured to a pair of cooperating clamping frame members. The clamping frame members are operatively associated with a threaded bolt. Upon tightening of the bolt the frame members clamp between them the inner and outer walls of a end portion of the exhaust pipe to thereby secure the cap in position over the open end of the exhaust pipe.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative clamp construction for weather caps for upstanding exhaust pipes which will be easy to install and remove for servicing or replacement, and which will be simple and economical to construct.